Jan Kirchhoff hopes his injury nightmare is finally at an end after he made his comeback last night after three months out of action.

The German midfielder went under the knife for a knee cartilage problem in December, but has been back in training for two-and-a-half weeks and played just over an hour for Sunderland U23s in their 3-1 defeat against Manchester United at Eppleton.

Kirchhoff has targeted the Premier League game against Burnley at the Stadium of Light a week on Saturday for a possible return to the first-team squad, and before then he could be involved for the U23s against on Sunday against Leicester City.

But he was delighted to be back playing again after almost three months on the sidelines.

“For me it was a good training session to be out there and have some game practice and get some minutes under my belt – that’s what I need now,” said Kirchhoff following his run-out against the Red Devils.

Jan Kirchhoff of Sunderland (L) and Claudio Yacob of West Bromwich Albion (R) battle for possession during the Premier League match between Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion at Stadium of Light on October 1, 2016 in Sunderland, England (Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“It’s mainly about fitness, but it is always different to be on the pitch playing a game and trying to win a football match, rather than just training.

“The main thing for us was to win this game and we didn’t do that, so we are quite disappointed.

“For me though it is a positive to have got these minutes and try to build my fitness.

“We have a weekend off because Middlesbrough are playing in the cup, so it is a chance to have a good week training and then start on Monday and keep going throughout the week to work on my fitness.”

Kirchhoff’s campaign has been badly disrupted by a series of injuries dating all the way back to pre-season, and he has drawn parallels between his personal frustrations and those of the team in its struggle against relegation.

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He said: “It has been very frustrating. It is not nice to be out and unable to help the team in any way.

“This whole season has been frustrating, not only for me personally but for us as a team.

“We will try our best to stick together and fight our way back out of this situation.

“That’s what I am doing now as well – trying to help the team get some points to stay in the league this season.”

Kirchhoff’s return comes as Sunderland have just 11 games to close the six-point gap between themselves and safety, and at the start of a run of vital fixtures - many of which are against sides in the lower half of the table - starting against Burnley and running all the way through April and into May.

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Kirchhoff said: “Burnley is a massive game. I feel like all the games coming up are massive games, but that is nothing new – we really need to start picking up points.

“But these are just phrases which don’t really tell you anything new.

“We have to try and win our home games and try to beat the teams we are able to. I don’t think that Man City was really the game where we had to pick up points, but the upcoming games against Burnley, Watford and Leicester are three games where we have to try to get as many points as we can.

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“These are the games where we have to put all our efforts into getting something out of them.

“In the end, it is always about the people on the pitch. It doesn’t matter who it is, we try to be successful.

“For us as a football club, we have to stay together and work hard every day and try to get results – that’s what matters.

“It has been the same all season so nothing really has changed, just the pressure has got bigger and bigger because there are less games and the opportunities to get the points we need are getting fewer and fewer.”